


Where You Go, I Go

by WillowSong



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Action, Angst, First Kiss, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-17
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-21 13:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2470319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WillowSong/pseuds/WillowSong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nico is injured in a battle with the Chimera, Will is not very happy with the state in which he returns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where You Go, I Go

Nico hadn't realized how much he hated Chimeras until he was nearly swallowed by one.

It was supposed to be a simple quest- just more standard cleanup of the monsters leftover from the defeat of Gaea three months earlier. Much of her army had scattered and, instead of laying low, were taking it upon themselves to reek as much havoc as possible before either the Greek or Roman demigods caught up with them.

Earlier in the day Chiron had asked Nico to investigate a small disturbance not far from camp. Neither Chiron nor Nico believed that it would take more than one demigod, but as Nico was getting ready leaving camp, Will found him and offered to go with him. After a short squabble with Nico trying to turn the offer down and Will being stubborn, Nico had gone ahead and left without him. Sure, it had made sense at the time- there hadn't been much of a disturbance and it was so close to the magical boundaries of Camp Half-Blood that it would be pointless to send more than one demigod, especially when that one demigod was the son of Hades.

That was his excuse for turning down the help, anyway. However, the truth was that he was becoming increasingly nervous around Will Solace.

Every time he looked at Will he felt like a tiny sun had erupted in his chest, warming him from the inside out. Despite the newfound confidence he had aquired over the past several months, he couldn't quite bring himself to confess to himself, let alone to anyone else, just how much Solace was starting to mean to him.

However, as Nico, who was mounted on Blackjack, landed next to the abandoned farmhouse and felt the surge of aggression that lingered around the sight, he began to wish he had taken Will up on his offer. Blackjack's presence was a small comfort, but he had only recently finished recovering from the wound Orion had given him, so he was still gaining his strength back.

Abandoned buildings had never bothered Nico, in fact he usually liked them. But as he dismounted and approached the porch, he found that the energy around the house made his skin crawl. There was a stale taste in the air and a kind of electric, angry energy rippling around Nico that made his hair stand on end.

He cautiously made his way up the porch steps with his sword drawn and reached for the handle of the back door. He had barely touched it when suddenly the door burst open and a monster flew out. Nico caught a glimpse of a creature with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and disturbingly long snake tail before the monster tackled him to the ground.

Pain ripped through Nico's shoulder as the creature, the Chimera, sank its teeth deep into his arm.

Stifling a cry of pain, Nico swung his sword around the Chimera's back, leaving a gash in its wake. The Chimera howled and pulled back, glaring at Nico as he leapt to his feet. The fire in his shoulder was increasing by the second as the Chimera's venom spread through his veins.

He glared at the Chimera. "They say you've got human intelligence. If that's true then let's make this quick, okay?"

The Chimera glared at him before opening its mouth and belching out a wall of fire which Nico rolled to avoid. He landed on his feet and jabbed his sword into the Chimera’s side, leaping away as the monster shot more fire from its mouth.

"Is that all you've got?" Nico shouted, now behind the monster. His were beginning to feel like led as he slashed at the Chimera's back legs.

The Chimera whirled around, lashing out with its tail which struck Nico squarely in the chest and sent him flying.

Nico lay winded as the Chimera leapt, landing on top of him again, but this time pinning his sword arm down with its talons. Fiery breath poured onto Nico's face as he struggled to get his arm free. His movements only resulted in the Chimera's talons ripping into his arm and sinking deep.

That's when Blackjack landed on the Chimera's head.

The monster reeled back in surprise, loosening its grip on Nico just enough for him to yank his sword arm free and plunge it upward into the Chimera's chest. The monster let out a howl of pain and anger as it dissolves into dust.

Nico staggered to his feet and would have fallen back down again if Blackjack hadn't moved to prop him up. His vision blurred and the fire racing through him became almost unbearable.

Blackjack knelt down and whinnied at him as if to say, 'Well, get on! We can't let you die here!'

As he slumped over Blackjack's neck, Nico had one last thought before darkness closed in- Solace wasn't going to let him hear the end of this.

******

Sometimes Will really hated being a healer, especially whenever the Stoll brothers were around. Disaster seemed to trail them like a shadow and somehow Will always ended up having to clean up all the injuries that resulted from their pranks.

Today’s extravaganza had consisted of a rouge garden hose, some fireworks, and a paintball gun.

The good news was that in the aftermath of the prank there were only a few cuts and bruises for Will to clean up, but the bad news was that even twenty minutes later he was still dripping wet.

He stood beside Clarisse, who was equally wet and significantly more annoyed, monitoring the brothers as they sulkily cleaned the debris and grumbled about how no one appreciated good pranks.

Will let his thoughts wander to several hours before when Nico had left camp on Blackjack. Will hadn’t been able to concentrate on much of anything ever since Nico had left, his parting words still echoing through Will’s mind- ‘I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Solace!’

Will knew all too well how powerful Nico was and knew that he was more than a match for any monster he fought. But he also knew that Nico ignored his limits and would keep fighting even if it meant dying.

"Imagine what we could do if they would just channel all this destructiveness toward weapons, though," Clarisse muttered, snapping Will out of his thoughts as she glared at the Stoll brothers.

"Oh gods, don't encourage them," Will groaned.

Travis straightened up and squinted toward Thalia's tree. "I think I see something," he said.

Connor stood next to his brother and cupped a hand over his eyes as he peered into the distance as well. "You're right, definitely something there," he agreed.

Clarisse stomped forward. "Get back to work, you two. Don't think you're going to distract us and sneak out of this."

"No, they're right," Will said as he stepped after her. "Look." He pointed toward the skyline were a dark shape was moving toward them.

"Isn't that Blackjack?" Travis asked.

Sure enough, the pegasus flew at rocket speed toward the camp, a dark shape mound slumped over his back. Blackjack landed next to Thalia's tree, stumbling slightly as the dark figure toppled off his back onto a heap on the ground.

"Something's wrong," Clarisse said. "Wait, isn't that N-"

Will was running before she finished speaking.

Nico.

******

Nico felt as if his entire body was on fire. His lungs constricted and he gasped for air, thrashing out blindly, trying to find something to hold to keep himself from slipping away.

To his surprise, something warm and solid caught his hand and held it tightly.

He could hear voices, but they sounded far away. One voice sounded closer and spoke in sharp commands. Nico tried to make sense of the words, but they kept jumbling together.

Something gripping his mouth and forced his jaw open. He lashed out, trying to free himself, but strong hands pinned him down.

Warm liquid dropped down his throat.

The voices around him cleared enough so he could understand them.

"This will keep him alive, but we need to get him to get to the infirmary. Get a stretcher!" The sharp voice directly above him commanded.

"Look, he moved!" Another voice cried excitedly.

"I can see that, Connor. Now do as I say and get me a stretcher! Travis, go with him!" The first voice snapped. "Clarisse, don't hold him so tight or you'll strangle him."

The hands holding Nico loosened their grip a fraction. Nico tried opening his eyes, but there was only darkness all around.

Then, through the darkness came a halo of light, as a face wreathed in blonde hair appeared above him. "Nico, hold on," a voice commanded, gentle but firm.

Nico said the only thing he could think of through his poison-clouded mind- "Why are you all wet?"

Darkness washed over him again.

******

Will stared down in silence at Nico who was lying unconscious and shirtless on the infirmary bed. His wounds were nowhere near the worst Will had seen, but that didn't stop the bile from rising to his throat at the sight the deep, bloody puncture marks across Nico's shoulder and the jagged claw marks that had shredded his sword arm.

The Chimera had done its work well, but luckily so had Will.

As soon as he had gotten Nico back to the infirmary, Will had kicked Clarisse and the Stoll brothers out and set to work. Nico had been burning up with a fever. Will's hands flew, grabbing any kind of medicine in sight, and placing cool clothes on Nico's forehead. All the while he was murmuring to the unconscious son of Hades, alternating from gentle encouragements to issuing dire threats.

"It's okay Nico, you're going to be fine- No, stop shaking! Why are you always so dramatic?- Just stay with my voice, Nico, you're safe now- Don't you dare die on me, di Angelo!"

After what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a few minutes, there was nothing left for him to do. He sat down in the chair next to Nico's bed and waited. He had done what he could, now it was up to Nico to do the rest.

Will placed his hand gently over Nico's ice cold fingers and held them tightly. He began praying to every god he could think of.

"Not Nico," he murmured. "Please not Nico."

******

Nico's eyes cracked open slowly. He was blinded for a moment by the bright daylight that surrounded him. When his eyes came into focus he blinked and looked around. He was laying on his back on an infirmary bed wearing only a pair of loose fitting pants. His blanket was pulled up to his waist, leaving his bandaged chest and arm exposed. His limbs felt like led and he ached all over. There was an unfamiliar warm, although not unpleasant, pressure on his right hand.

He glanced down and saw Will, fast asleep in the chair next to him with his hand covering Nico's.

He jerked awake as Nico began to stir and jumped up to hover over the bed. "Finally awake," he grumbled as he gently checked Nico’c bandages. "Took you long enough."

"For a doctor, you're not very sympathetic," Nico replied, his voice dry and raspy. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days," Will replied as he picked up a glass of water from the table beside the bed. "I thought Jason was going to start crying when he and Piper came to see you this morning." He gently lifted Nico's head to help him drink.

"I can do it myself," Nico protested with a frown, trying to ignore the soaring feeling in the pit of his stomach at Will's touch.

"Shut up and drink the water," was the only response he got.

Nico found it difficult to glare and drink at the same time, so he opted to ignore Will completely and concentrate on the water that was soothing his parched throat.

Will chuckled softly. "Quit pouting. You look like kid who just got his favorite toy taken away."

Nico glared back at him. "I do not."

"You totally do." He sat back down and studied Nico, his grin fading.

"What?" Nico asked testily.

"You should have let me come with you."

Nico shrugged. "Maybe, but it doesn't matter now. The job got done."

Will's eyes flashed. "It does too matter, di Angelo, so don't ever let me hear you say that again. You almost died!"

"But I didn't."

"That's not the point! You just went jumping headfirst into a dangerous situation without thinking of anyone but yourself! How do you think everyone back here would feel if you died? How do you think Hazel would feel? Or me? Did it ever cross your mind that maybe it matters to me if you die?"

"No," Nico said honestly. It was the wrong answer.

Will leaned forward, anger and sadness in his eyes. "When are you finally going to see yourself clearly, Nico?"

Nico shook his head. "I do."

"No, you don't. You're starting to, but you still don't understand how amazing and talented you are. If you did understand then you would be able to see why there's no way in Hades that I'd ever let you die."

Nico's heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. Surely Will didn't mean what it sounded like he was saying. Surely Nico was misunderstanding.

But then Will leaned over, taking Nico's hand again carefully in his own. He looked Nico directly in the eye, their faces only inches apart.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, Death Boy," he murmured. "And next time you go on a quest I’m coming with you, whether you like it or not."

"No, you're not." Nico wanted to kick himself when his voice shook. He knew Will heard the tremor too when the smug jerk started smirking. "And stop calling me Death Boy."

"Make me," Will whispered and closed the distance between them.

It was a gentle kiss, barely a brush of the lips, but when Will pulled back Nico found that he was breathless.

It was his first kiss.

Will grinned down at him and Nico returned his gaze, wide eyed and speechless.

"There's no more arguing back now, di Angelo," Will laughed. "Where you go, I go. So you'd better get used to it."

Nico found himself grinning back. It was still a strange feeling, being able to smile out of sheer joy.

"I think I can do that," he replied. "But you better not give me anymore nicknames."

"No promises."

Sunshine filled the room, warm and bright as the boys smiled at each other, holding hands tightly. They were safe and everything was finally right.


End file.
